As Petals and Flames - Year 1
by Loopin' Lunan95
Summary: Helga Hufflepuff vanished with her magical goblet without a trace and her house became nelected and forgotten by everyone. 1000 of years later, her descendant has appeared and it's the most unlikely of witches and wizards. Sure a simple Hufflepuff can't have any connection to Harry Potter himself, right? 1st part in the series. R&R, please.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Everyone knows about the four houses of Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry.

There were Gryffindor, home of the brave and bold with their fire red and golden colors.

The intelligent students usually belonged with Ravenclaw, their banners were dark blue with bronze stripes.

Green with silver, Slytherin may have a bad rumor, but it was technically home of the cunning and those with great ambitions.

Lastly we had kind Hufflepuff, yellow and ebony, and they believed in hard work and true loyalty.

However...

They were very underappreciated. For a house which didn't had the glory with either courage, wisedom or ambtions, many nelected them and spread nasty rumours that Hufflepuffs were easily tricked fools.

Helga's house became forgotten, just like she did along with her goblet. The honor of a true Hufflepuff was forgotten.

It was unfortunate, but it was like that.

But what no one knew...was how that was to be changed and it would come one day where a Hufflepuff could shape the fate of others.


	2. The Little Badger

**_Hogwarts. August, 1991._**

 _"In the beginning, there were four founders. Two males, two women. Godric, Salazar, Rowena and Helga. All of them were gifted in their own way and they were the best of friends. But darkness spread and tore them apart. Salazar ran his way from the castle for unknown reasons, never to be seen again. Godric looked for him everywhere without succes until he suffered the same fate, his sword were all that remained of him. Rowena died of grief, mourning the loss of both her lover and her own daughter, Helena who vanished only a short time afterwards. Helga, the last of the founders, lived alone for decades until she perished herself. And now, thousand years old, things haven't changed. The houses are still devided and the truth is still hidden."_

The woman, who just told the summary of old legends, paused as she took a sip of her cup of tea. Then she looked at the visitor in front of her. "But there's another legend to come, isn't it?" Regina asked, her dark eyes held a shimmer that usually were a sign that she were planning something. "A badger will follow the lion, out of truce and loyalty, on the long journey. Then it will come one day where the badger will do the right thing, to attack the snake to defend it's fire-forged friend."

The woman rose up and walked around the circular office, she wore a frown. "You know as well I do. My daughter is a badger at heart, even if she yet must be sorted and if I'm right, there's a high chance that she might follow this lion."

"Regina, dear." The headmaster said. "It is, as you said, a legend and we can't be sure if that points at your daughter-"

"Elyon is the same age as the boy. She befriends him and her life will be just as predicted, I know that. It wasn't just one prophecy that were foretold that evening, but two. But it can be avoided if she follows the path I made for her, then she can live a long life intact."

"Tampering with fate is a dangerous thing to do, Regina." Albus warned. "I can see that you are very concerned about your daughter, but I can assure you that nothing dangerous can fall on her."

Regina scoffed. "Your words means a lot, Albus. But I don't risk it and Elyon's fate can be changed if I decide. If we're lucky, then perhaps she fall into another house than what she's predicted to."

The headmaster knew that he couldn't change the mind of his former student. Besides, Regina had changed a lot since the war, the loss of her brother had harden her heart. "I can't change your mind, it seems to. But as it is, your daughter is a young girl and her education is important after all, isn't it?"

"Of course." Regina snorted. "That's why she'll study here. Elyon will gain the best education the world can give her." She replied. "Very well. Thank you for your time, Albus."

"It was nothing, it was quite charming to meet a former student of mine again." Albus Dumbledore spoke with a smile. "Until we meet again, Regina."

* * *

 ** _King's Cross. September 1st, 1991._**

Their father couldn't get a day off, considering that he were an Auror, so it fell in the mother's duty to follow her children to King's Cross and wave them off until she saw them again by Christmas holiday. "Stick together now." Regina ordered her son and daughters, she brought her youngest as well

The oldest of the four siblings were Randall, their firstborn and the only son in the family. He wore golden hair, slightly long almost to his shoulders and tied as a tail and his eyes were blue-green, they held a spark of casualty and mischievousness. He wore a grin as he teasingly glanced at his younger sister, who were very irritated at him for the moment. He pushed his cart, loaded with his trunk and a cage with an owl.

On top of his trunk sat the youngest sister, a small girl with short black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a sneaky grin, as if she were planning on a mischief like her big brother. Adele were the youngest, but she weren't yet in schoolage to leave for Hogwarts, so she were just following them to the train.

Gwendolyn, the secondborn and the oldest sister, were mostly alike their mother with the black hair and pale skintone. She, like Randall, had inherited their father's eyes, but still she were so unlike her brother as they could be. For the moment, she were highly annoyed by her brother's constant idiocy.

"Randall, you go first and no tricks!" Regina told her son while she held her third daughter on the hand, she gave a slight glare to him as a warning to not testing the waters.

The blonde shrugged his shoulder. "Alright, mum." He said and prepared himself. After making sure no one where paying attention to him, especially any Muggles, he grinned before he ran with his cart along with his youngest sister and vanished through the wall of the platform 9 and 3/4.

Regina, their mother, nodded. "Gwendolyn, your turn."

The oldest daughter didn't answered, but she held her stance straight and ran through the platform, disappeared just like her brother.

"Now, Elyon. I will come afterwards, so you go on alone." Regina told her thirdborn, glancing at the small girl who meekly nodded.

Elyon took a hold of her trolley, her trunk were onboard of it and a cage of braided straw, inside slept a black cat. Her hands grasped the handle of the trolley tightly, she swallowed the lump in her dy throat and her feet moved by themselves. They began to walk fast which soon turned into running.

She didn't heard anything else, only the wind blowing in her ears and how her heart slammed violently against her chest. The surface of the platform came only closer and Elyon closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the impact in case she would fail.

For only a moment, it felt...in all honesty, Elyon couldn't feel anything else than her violent heartbeats and her heavy inhale. It were as if she had moved through time and space. Then it stopped as suddenly it came. Elyon were still and she dared to open her eyes again, they were bluegreen as her father, her brother and her sister.

Elyon stared at the sight in front of her. There it was, the big train in scarlet red color and grand in it's magnificity. Hundreds of children and teenages were gathered and mingled around on the platform, the train conductors loaded inside the cages of pets and students' trunks into the train's cargo hold. Even if she had been here before, waving off her brother and sister as child...the feeling that she were going to jump onto huge, red train and sit there on her first journey to the school.

Nothing could beat that feeling.

She couldn't help than to smile, Elyon had looked forward to this ever since she had seen Randall going to Hogwarts first time and then Gwendolyn. Now, it was her turn. She pushed her trolley and looked around, students were all around here and chatted with their friends or in the soon-to first years' case, they were keeping close to their parents and looked very shy.

Elyon passed a group of teenagers, gathered around a boy with dreadlocks with a box in his hands and two, identical and redhaired twins who grinned. A hairy leg stuck out of the box and the group yelled in shock and fear. Elyon swallowed and hurried forward, trying to find Randall.

Until she looked behind to the group with the redhaired twins and saw her big brother talking with them. Well, it looked she couldn't talk to him now since Elyon were very afraid for spiders and she would rather stay a distance with hundreds of meters away from them.

Perhaps if she looked for Gwendolyn? Elyon's eyes darted around for a blackhaired sister with identical eyes like hers. There, she spotted her. But that was no go either. Gwen stood with two girls and chatted, the closest to her was a girl with Asian appearence and straight, black hair.

 _'That must be Cho Chang...I heard Gwen talk about her once to twice.'_ Elyon thought to herself. However, Gwen didn' seemed much happy about the other girl, who must be Marietta Edgecombe. Gwen talked about her and their intense rivaltry.

It would be wise to not disturb, at least. Before they left home, Elyon were told by her sister to not talk to Marietta to any costs and she didn't wanted to upset her sister either.

Going to Hogwarts were all about taking the first step alone, after all.

Then Elyon's mind stopped when she almost ran into a boy in her age. At her first glance, Elyon had a feeling that perhaps this could be her first friend...until she spotted a certain scar in his head and realized it was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.  
 _  
"It's impolite to stare."_ Her mother's strict words echoed in her head and Elyon quickly turned away her attention. She were sure that no one liked to be stared at and her mother would be even more stricter if she had done that. Besides, it wouldn't be a good first impression if she were caught staring at him.

 **CRASH  
**  
Elyon, who had been sunken in her thoughts, had managed to crash into a lamp post with a big sign that clearly said " **HOGWARTS** **EXPRESS** " and her trolley fell over the side. The small cage with her cat began to hiss furiously, but Elyon tried to get off the heavy trunk, which had fallen straight onto her, off herself and her arms weren't especially strong either.

Laughter began to ring around her and Elyon felt her face burn of embarrassment, she franatically tried to push away the trunk off her.

Suddenly she weren't alone on getting rid of the heavy weight, there were someone else who helped her and soon, it were gone and she inhaled deeply. "Thanks..." She gasped and shook her head, trying to rid of her dizziness.

She felt her heart almost drop to her stomach when she saw who had helped her, no one other than Harry Potter himself! "I..." She stammered and quickly looked down, trying to not stare. "Thank you..." She mumbled. "You didn't had to..."

"You needed help, it looked like it was the only right." Harry replied and offered his hand to help her up.

Elyon rose onto her feet with his help and she lift her head, looking at his face this time although she aimed to look at his eyes. "Well...I already said thank you?" She mumbled and Harry nodded. "I...uh...I'm Elyon." She offered a hand for him to shake. "Elyon Pemberton."

"Oh, I'm Harry. Harry Potter." He replied. "Are you beginning at Hogwarts too?"

Elyon nodded. "Yes, it's my first time." She answered as she picked up the cage with her cat, who still hissed for a while. "Oh my...Salem is going to be mad at me for a week now."

Harry looked interested. "Your cat is named Salem?"

Elyon blushed. "It was the only name I could think of. My brother thought it was hilarious." She explained and put the cage on top of her trunk, who they lifted into the trolley again. "I have a brother and a sister, both older than me. I would normally be with them, but they're with their respective friends and I promised to give them space." She explained.

Harry peeked into the cage, seeing a black kitten who hissed at him. Yes, it was very angry. "Your cat looks beautiful." Harry remarked.

"Oh...thank you." Elyon smiled. "He was a gift from my dad for my birthday. Also as an apology that he couldn't be here too."

The boy nodded. "It's still a nice gift. So...do we board our things into the trains by ourselves?"

"I guess so." Elyon replied with a shrug, she had honestly forgotten that detail and her siblings or mother hadn't really told anything about that at least.

They arrived to the cargo were all of the students' trunks were being loaded, but it appeared that the train conductors were busy somewhere else, so they attempted to do it by themselves. Harry and Elyon tried with all their might to lift his trunk onboard. He stood on the small stairs, trying to lift the trunk while Elyon pushed it from behind.

It were a horrible result since Elyon was too weak to lift the other end and Harry lost his grasp on the handle, so the trunk fell onto his foot. "I'm sorry!" Elyon instantly apologized, she felt guilty.

Harry were about to say something, but then they both jumped when a voice interrupted them. "Hey, need a hand?" It was one of the redhaired twins Elyon saw from before.

"Yes, please!" Harry said exhausted before Elyon could say otherwise. She backed away from the trunk, so she wouldn't be in their way.

"Oi! Fred, help out here!" The ginger twin yelled for his brother and Fred appeared as quickly. Both of them lifted the trunk onboard the train. "Hey, you need help too?"

Elyon blushed and stammered. "I..."

"I think she does." Harry put in once he figured out his new friend wouldn't answer properly due to how shy she were.

The twins nodded to each other and walked confidently to her trolley. Elyon grabbed the cage with her cat as they grasped the handles of her trunk, carrying it with ease and carried it onto the train. Elyon stared with widen eyes, taking in how strong they were.

"Thanks a lot." Harry said and wiped the sweat off his forehead, accidently revealing his scar.

The twins dropped their jaws.

"What's that?" One of the twin exclaimed and pointed at his scar.

"Bloody hell..." The other twin said. "Are you...?"

"Yes, he is." The first twin said and nodded. "Surely you are?" He added and turned to Harry.

"What?" Harry asked.

Elyon were suddenly very busy to fiddle with the buttons on her light yellow cardigan. _'I have a bad feeling about this...'_ She thought.

"Harry Potter!" They exclaimed in union.

"Oh him..." Harry said.

It was too much for her, Elyon snorted to hold back a laughter of how the situation turned into. She turned away her face to hide her blush.

"I mean, that's me."

Both of the two boys stood with dropped jaws and stared at him and Harry felt how he blushed. Elyon tried to make herself smaller in this awkward moment. hen to their relief, a voice near the open train door interrupted.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

With one last glance at Harry, both of the twins jumped off the train to their mother.

Left were Harry and Elyon, who still held on the cage with Salem. Elyon looked at him, feeling very awkward. "I probably had to go now...I must see my mom off."

"Oh, go ahead." Harry said. "I see you later then?"

Elyon nodded with a smile. "Yes, thank you for helping me earlier. I hope we'll be friends if we happen to get into the same house."

"I sure hope that too." Harry replied and Elyon smiled one last time before she hurried down to the train platform. She exhaled. Now that was quite a meeting she never expected and it weren't even lunch yet.

She passed the family with the twins Fred and George, carefully glanced at the redhaired family which were now extended with their mother, an older brother, a younger brother and a younger sister who didn't seemed to be in the school age yet. Appearently their youngest brother were beginning at Hogwarts too.

Elyon's attention were caught when she saw her own family waiting for her. Randall laughed obnoxiously at something which probably irritated Gwen since she looked as if she could hit his face with a fist. Her youngest sister, Adele, stood there with crossed arms and pouted.

"There you are!" Randall boomed. "Exploring the train, huh?"

Elyon nodded, not really eager to tell about her awkward adventure. "What's with Adele?"

Gwen sighed. "She's mad. Mom stopped her from sneaking onto the train." She explained and looked at their mother, who looked very displeased with crossed arms. "Besides, we need to say goodbye before we leave. Train's leaving in five minutes."

Elyon turned to their mother. "Goodbye, mum." She told their mother and Regina embraced her, her usual stern attitude were as blown away.

"Elyon, I want you to know that I'm proud of you and you will do good in Hogwarts." Regina told her daughter as they began to walk towards one of the train doors. "You will make your true friends at Hogwarts during the seven years you will spend there and shape your destiny."

The girl nodded. "Yes, mum. I'll write every week if I can."

"And try getting into Gryffindor." Randall added. "If you don't, maybe Dad disown you."

"Randall, don't talk nonsense!" Gwen hissed at her brother. "Elyon is smart, she'll fall into Ravenclaw. Or if she's like Mother, then she'll go to Slytherin."

Adele perked up. "Yeah, get to Slytherin and give Malfoy a kick!" She demanded with a smirk.

"Enough. Elyon will fall into the house that suits her the best." Regina interrupted, she looked more strict at her children. "Randall, behave and do good in study more. Gwendolyn, try to keep your brother in line if you can. And Elyon, do your best and you know what I have warned you before."

Elyon frowned. "Don't make ties with wrong friends?"

"Exactly." Regina told her. "You must learn to differ from right and wrong. There's people who will convince you that you should have better friends, but you decide your friends and your choices."

A whistle howled.

"Off with you now." Regina ordered her children, she gave them a warm hug each and after Elyon got onto the train, her hand grabbed the shirt of little Adele who once again tried to jump aboard.

"Oh, come on!" Adele yelled.

Elyon looked through the open window of the now closed train door. "Goodbye, mum! Goodbye, Adele. I see you at Christmas. Tell Dad I love him!" She shouted and waved with her arm.

The train went in full motion, fast it went and as it rounded a few corners, it didn't took long to see that the Hogwarts Express now left the busy city of London and towards her first adventure.

There were many seats now being occupied by students, who appearently knew each other from before and Elyon, who only had her brother and sisters as company when she were growing up, felt for the first time very exposed and shy. She had never been away from her siblings or parents before and now, it were unclear what she were to do.

 _'I better find a seat somewhere...'_ She thought and went into an empty compartment, she sat down on the soft seats and set down the cage beside her. Elyon exhaled and it were quiet, she spent a moment to look through the window and saw how the train passed the fields of the countryside.

Elyon turned to the cat cage and unlocked the cage door, letting out her cat. Salem jumped out onto the floor and stretched before paying attention to his owner, staring at the young girl with it's eyes, blue as sapphires.

 _"Meow."_ Salem said and jumped onto the seat beside his owners, rolling into a ball and started to fall asleep. Elyon reached her hand and scratched him behind the ear, her cat purred.

Elyon sighed. "Oh Salem...I have no idea what I'm doing, really." She told her cat, feeling completely alone here in the empty compartment.

"You look awfully lonely here, don't you?"

She looked up to see a girl in her age at the door opening of the compartment. Elyon blinked surprised. The new girl had red-brown hair, long to the shoulders and warm brown eyes. "I can keep you company, if you want."

"Oh sure." Elyon replied hastily. "Please have a seat."

The girl marched over to the seat on the opposite and faced Elyon. "So we might become classmates? I'm Susan Bones." She offered a hand and Elyon took it, shaking it politely.

"My name is Elyon Pemberton."

"Pemberton? That Pemberton?" Susan exclaimed with widen eyes. "Like in the great Auror?"

Elyon blushed, nodding as she looked down. "Yes, it's my father. He weren't able to see me off."

"Oh, then my aunt must know him!" Susan said cheerfully. "My aunt Amelia is the head of the Justice Department, she must know him then. I'm so honored to meet his daughter."

"I'm not that special..." Elyon mumbled embarrassed. "I's the thirdborn..."

"But that means your grandchild to the Minister in Korea, right? On your mother's side."

Elyon looked up, it weren't many who noticed that fact. "Yes, that is correct. Grandfather wants me to take over when he steps down, but I don't know about that..."

Susan looked amazed. "That would be really amazing...but I don't think it works like that, does it?"

"Not exactly, but the election differs a lot from the British Ministry of Magic."Elyon began to explain. "In five years, my Grandfather is opening the election option and a representative of the Korean family clans chose a nominateé for the election. My mother, who's from the clan Heo, has already decided to cast me as a nominateé." Elyon's shoulders sank low as she sighed.

"Not to be rude, but why you?" Susanasked. "You're the third child, shouldn't the oldest child be more suitable?"

"Randall don't want to, he rejected the idea since he were five and he wants to go in our father's steps." Elyon told her. "And my sister Gwendolyn doesn't desire that either, she plans a career as healer. That left me as the third option and I know it sounds strange, but it seemed like my mother had decided on me since I was born."

Susan frowned. "You think she has planned it? I mean, it sounds like your mum wants you on that position."

"I don't know." Elyon replied. "She only told me that I can't form ties with a someone who'll be in our age and she said...meddling with fate is not good."

"Sounds like she wants you to avoid some sort of destiny. Has she told you what it is?" Susan asked curiously.

Elyon shook her head. "No and she forbid me from asking more."

"My aunt once took me to her work when I were small." Susan told. "Once I sat and overheard two men discussing a strange thing, I think they mentioned that Department of Mysteries and they said "A badger with a lion heart will stay true to the thunder and fight the snake by his side". Odd, isn't it?"

"Really odd." Elyon confirmed. "Maybe they talked in codes? I heard Aurors does that from my dad."

"Anyways." Susan shrugged. "I really hope we get into the same house together. My aunt Amelia were in Hufflepuff like my uncle, but my dad used to be in Gryffindor and my mom too. Where do you think you'll fall?"

"I can't tell." Elyon answered. "My dad were in Gryffindor and so is Randall. I had an aunt who were in Ravenclaw, just like my sister and my mom's family has always been in Slytherin."

"Then you might go to any of them." Susan concluded. "I think you look like a Gryffindor, you probably fall there!"

"Probably." Elyon said and stroke the fast asleep Salem's black fur. "I really hope so."

* * *

The train ride flew through the hours since Elyon found a companionship with Susan, who were very honest and listened at whatever they could talk about. They brought a lot of candy from the lady with the trolley and shared it together. In fact, Elyon still had a lot of chocolate frogs in her pockets, she had saved for last since they were her favorite and she never said no to chocolate.

Once they were getting closer to the destination, both of them changed into the robes. Elyon thought about the change that would become on the black robes, mainly the colors of the ties and possibly the scarves once it became colder, she had been Gwen with those in blue and broze coloring before.

"I'm really nervous." Susan said. "My whole family has been in Hufflepuff, so I'm worried what happens if I fall in something else."

Elyon had honestly thought of such worry the entire journey, even if she didn't spoke much about it. "I think it will go well for you." She said honestly and it was true, Elyon had a feeling Susan might fall to the house her family were from.

But herself? It was still a question mark, Elyon didn't felt either brave, smart or cunning. _'I just want to be someone they can be proud of...'_ She thought to herself and begged in her mind for what divinity in the world to let her at least fall in Gryffindor. Even if it was a joke, she took Randall's words seriously about being disowned otherwise.

However, now it was time to head towards the school. The train has stopped and everyone were heading to the exit. Elyon spotted Harry, he seemed to get along with a tall boy with red hair and freckles. _'Maybe it's Fred and George's brother?'_ She thought to herself, tilting her head at the side slightly.

Elyon experienced so many things that she couldn't explain her feelings, it just felt like a big adventure and the day were far from over. She got into the same boat as Susan once they were going to sail over the lake to the castle. Two other boys made them company. The first one were a boy who were slightly on the chubby side, but he wore a goodnatured smile and the other were a thin boy with curly black hair with an amazed expression.

"Hi. Ernie McMillian, at your service." The chubby boy said and shook Elyon's hand in a firm grip. "This is Justin Finch-Fletchley and you are?"

"Uh...Elyon. Elyon Pemberton."

"And I'm Susan Bones."

Ernie smiled. "A pleasure to meet you two. I hope we fall into the same house, I have a feeling we'll become great friends in that case."

"Does it really matter where we get?" Justin asked. "I just hope I'm good enough for any house."  
 _  
'Personally, I agree with him.'_ Elyon thought as they sat in their boat, sailing closer to the massive castle with magnificent towers and the fullmoon shone brightly up in the dark night skies. She gasped loudly, as many others of the first-years in their boats.

And imagine, she would spend rest of the year and the next half year at this place. Elyon's heart fluttered as if it sprouted wings and it could fly.

"We're almost there!" Justin whispered excited in Elyon's ear.

She nodded as the boats sailed across the still lake that reflected herself as mirror when she looked down.

"Down with yer heads!" The keeper of keys, Rubeus Hagrid, suddenly shouted and Elyon followed suit, barely in time to dodge the cliffside and she thanked her lucky stars for her quick reaction.

The little boats brought them to a curtain of holly that hid a wide opening in the cutting surface. They slid through a dark tunnel, which seemed to bring them straight under the castle until they came to a kind of underground port, where they ripped themselves out of the boats onto rocks and pebbles.

They were slightly held up when Hagrid inspected the boats so no one forgot anything of worth, which was lucky since a boy named Neville Longbottom got reunited with Trevor, his toad. Then they climbed up once in the cliff after Hagrids lantern and finally came out on smooth, damp grass in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a stone staircase and shook around the huge gate of oak.

"Y'all here then?" Hagrid called out to the crowd of eleven year olds. "Y'there, got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised an enormous fist and knocked thrice at the castle port.


	3. The Sorting of Fate

**_Hogwarts. August, 1991._**

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Elyon had a feeling that this wouldn't take lightly on either stupidity nor breaking of rules.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Elyon, due her complete shyness and paid more attention to listen, could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber.

All of the students in her age started to mumble and chat once they became alone. Elyon however was so nervous that she didn't dare to look at anyone. Besides it suited her far better to listen instead.

"How exactly does they sort us into houses?"

She perked up and realized it was Harry who asked his new friend Ron, both of them stood in the line in front of her.

Ron shrugged. "Some sort of test, I think." He answered. "Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

More than half of the students had heard the conversation and began to have a little panic, no one would be ready to do a test in front of the whole school and the mere thought of that frightened them up.

Elyon spotted a girl bushy brown hair on Susan's other side, she rambled up the spells she had already learned by books and wondered which one she could need. _'Can someone really learn that fast and by book, no less?'_ Elyon thought and felt completely foolish, her stomach twisted and turned of nervousity.

She knew they would sort into houses, but not exactly how they did the sorting and Elyon felt as if she could faint now, the heart slammed against her chest like it were trying to break her ribcage.

Suddenly someone screamed and Elyon would've almost jump out of her skin, with her already tense nerves.

"What the-?"

She lost her ability to talk, so surprised she was. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Elyon fell in the middle of the line, right behind Ron Weasley and Harry, who was in front of him, got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them, as if they were expecting something grand as a show.

She were more than just nervous now, she were terrified of what was to become of her now. Elyon carefully looked around, her fface felt sweaty and cold and if that wasn't a sign of how pale she must look now, she didn't knew what else it was.

There four long tables, trailing along the length of the Great Hall. Each student could tell her who belonged in which house, with their colored ties and the hoods and trails of the robe's edges were in the same base color.

 _'Red for Gryffindor.'_ Elyon spied over to the table and saw her brother Randall, whispering excited with those who redhaired twins and the boy with dreadlocks. _'Blue for Ravenclaw...'_ Her eyes turned over to the table with blue ties, seeing Gwendolyn sitting there confidently. _'Green for Slytherin.'_

The table of Slytherin didn't looked like it held nice persons at all, they looked a bit intimidating and frightening to her. But it was her mother's old house, she was reminded.  
 _  
'And yellow for Hufflepuff...'_ Elyon finished her thughts and gazed slightly to the last table, seeing the students with yellow ties and compared to Slytherin, they looked like a friendly and goodnatured bunch with their easy smiles.

Elyon quickly looked forward again and saw as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. _'When was the last time they gave it a good wash?'_

She had once read that Muggles made their "magic trick" by pulling out a white rabbit from a hat. Was it supposed to be like that? She started to notice that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, she began to stare at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing: 

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Elyon heard Ron whispering to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."  
 _  
'Fred...that must be one of the funny twins.'_ Elyon thought. They seemed like a very nice bunch, those Weasleys and she hoped she would fall into the house they belonged to.

But in all honesty, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but does she had to try it on in front of everyone? What if someone laughs at her? What if she looks too silly? _What if she weren't chosen to a house at all?!_

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause -

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving  
merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. At least Susan had a feeling where she would belong, Elyon thought to herself, although she were happy for her sake.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Elyon had to surpress a snicker when the twin brothers were catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. She knew that she shouldn't judge from the appearence, but there weren't many who smiled. More like they smirked in confidence. Elyon was very certain that she wouldn't fall there at least, she had no qualities of a true snake.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

By this point, Elyon started to notice the hat sometimes announced out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. _'She must be so excited for this.'_ Elyon thought.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

A horrible thought struck Elyon. What if Randall was right after all? What if she didn't got to Gryffindor as he and their father expected? No, they wouldn't disown her, would they? _'Oh please, don't let it be true...just let it be a joke, Randall always jokes...'_ Elyon thought desperately.

When Neville Longbottom was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Elyon knew Neville from her childhood, but they weren't close at all. Her parents were both big names in the wizarding world and went to many parties held by the old wizard families. Elyon and her siblings were naturally invited if the party was child-friendly and she had even been taught tradition along the side of Neville. But they did rarely interract more than just a small chat.

Then she frowned as she saw a familiar face. _'Malfoy.'_ Elyon thought. She wanted to hit herself, he was the same age of her and of course he would be there. She held too bitter memory of him and his family weren't better either, always looking down at the muggleborn wizards and witches as if they were better. Elyon hated that kind of unfair.

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed,

"SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself. 'At least he was confident...' Elyon thought.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" "Nott" "Parkinson" then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then...

"Pemberton, Elyon!"

And this was here where she would get a heart attack and die, Elyon decided as she forced her legs to move. She didn't looked behind or at either side, she were walking with a stiff back and trembled from top to toe. But no heart attack came as she sat down on the stool, waiting for the answer that would shape her destiny.

"Hm..." A small voice said in her ear. "A difficult one, I'd say. A clever mind I see here and there's plenty of courage that is, a true heart of a lion... _oh!_ A honest and true one as well, that I don't see every day." The small voice continued, it sounded like it was... _impressed_? "Now, where to put you?I haven't seen such mind in thousand year...hm, now I know. Yes, that is the absolute best house for you."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Elyon's heart froze.


	4. Her Decision Is Hers Alone

**_Hogwarts, 1991._**

 _"HUFFLEPUFF!"_

Elyon's heart froze.

It can't be...this was wrong, right? This was a joke and in a very poor taste.

The table of Hufflepuff broke into cheers and applause, waking her up briefly from her shock. She rose onto feet automatically, handing it over to Professor McGonagall and made her way to the Hufflepuff table, still in shock and walking like a robot. Her teal eyes darted around, searching for her brother and sister's reactions.

Randall stared at her with a dropped jaw from the Gryffindor table. From the table of Ravenclaws, Gwen looked at her in disbelief and widen eyes.

Hufflepuff...her. She was a badger?

She had never before felt so out of place as she sat there by the Hufflepuff table. Apart from her sister and brother. She knew there had never...never at all, been any Hufflepuff in her family on either side.

What was she going to tell her mother? And father. And Adele...and her grandfather who has so much hopes in her.

She didn't looked forward to send a letter about it.

Elyon were shaken from her deep thought when she looked at the sorting and saw Harry Potter being sorted. If she weren't wrong, then it was probably taking just long as her.

Then the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR" and the students of the particular house broke into applause. The twins cheered and sang "We got Potter! We got Potter!". Even Randall, who quickly got over the shock of his sister, were seen in full spirit and he dived between the twins to shake Harry's hand excited.

Suddenly Elyon didn't knew what to feel. Took many thoughts ran in her name, too many feelings were shaken and in the end, she were just confused and lost.

* * *

The first shock and the afterwave of it slowly began to settle down by the time Elyon watched the last student, Blaise Zabini, being sorted. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Now, Professor Dumbledore, the esteemed headmaster and one of the world's most powerful wizards, stepped forward for some sort of a speech.

Elyon leaned forward, very curious of what he were going to have for speech.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! "Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered.

That was...special, Elyon decided as she was unsure of what she were to do. She blinked in surprise, she had expected a grandious speech.

"Surprised?" A boy who sat across in front of her said. He looked older, as if he were in the same age as Randall or perhaps older. "I was quite surprised too when I got here first time, I could tell of your reaction."

In the same moment, Elyon jumped as the food appeared on the table and everyone began to help themselves. Piles of roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint candies.

"Here, I can get you potatoes." The boy in front of her said, and loaded three, four big roasted potaties on her plate. "I'm Cedric, by the way. Cedric Diggory."

"Elyon Pemberton." She replied and got back her plate, which she now filled with lamb chops. It was her favorite. "Um, which year are you in?"

Cedric filled his plate with roast chicken and gravy. "Fourth year. How does it feel to be a badger now?"

"Odd." Elyon said. "I mean, I'm not ungrateful. I was just shocked-"

"Yes, it must've been such a shocker if everyone else was shocked." Cedric said as he stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork. "You didn't noticed?"

Elyon stared. "How did everyone know that?"

"Pemberton is very wellknown, Elyon. Everyone else knows that there have never been a Pemberton in Hufflepuff before." Cedric explained. "My father told me that once before."

"Well...I guess it feels better." Elyon remarked and ate her lamb chops.

* * *

That night when the new first year students of Hufflepuff had found their way to their common room and lied comfortably in their beds inside their respective dorms, Elyon lied awake and stared up into the ceilings. Her head were full of so many things she had felt, heard and experienced today.

Gwen would most likely send an owl to their mother and tell of the news. That she, a daughter of Pemberton, has been sorted into a Hufflepuff.

Big news it was, indeed. Elyon didn't dared to imagine what her mother would say or even their father. She had no idea what she were to feel about it yet and in all honesty, she had never considered what would happen once she were sorted into this house.

Elyon thought of what would happen when the classes started. She had already formed a slight friend in Susan and she decided that she should stick to Susan, so she doesn't meet any friends of the wrong kind.

Then there were Harry...

She would loved to see him as friend, but Elyon knew that would change everything her mother has told her. She weren't supposed to be very close to him, she had said. Elyon remember that she were told to only mind her business and don't be too curious.

Around midnight, Elyon found an solution to her problem. Her mother would never know if she didn't tell everything.

What happens in Hogwarts, could stay in Hogwarts of course. Besides, Hufflepuff are wellknown to be good friends with Gryffindors and especially during classes as Herbology.

Elyon turned to her side and looked down at the floor, her cat Salem lied in his basket and slept. She smiled as she thought of how tomorrow would be unpredictable in every way before she fell asleep.

* * *

Teal eyes looked at it's reflection in the mirror, Elyon combed her short hair before she attached a clip. It was a gift from her maternal grandfather, the Minister of Magic of Korea, to celebrate she were going to attend one of the finest schools in the world and he had told her that this would be a very special clip. It were formed as a beautiful butterfly, made of white gold and it's wings were made of blue opals.

She remembered as she were given that gift when she last visted her grandfather.

 _"Here's a lovely thing for you, grandchild." Minister Dae Hyun, the Korean Minister of Magic, spoke to Elyon, the third child of his daughter. He took a small jewellry box from one of his servants and presented it for Elyon. "Go on and open it, I'm sure it's to your enjoyment."_

 _Elyon, dressed in a traditional hanbok of silk_ **(AN: Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress)** _opened the box and looked at the hair clip she found inside. It was formed as a butterfly, the colors inside the wings were pale blue and shimmerings. The outlines of the butterfly were white, but it didn't seemed like silver. The eyes of the butterfly were two, small gemstones of sapphire._

 _Her grandfather smiled. "This is made of white gold, in case you're wondering." He spoke and took the hair clip, attaching it as he pulled away her long bangs to the side. "You will wear to not only to show how beautiful you are, but to show your status with me."_

 _"I'm very grateful for your gift, but...what does my status really mean?" Elyon asked._

 _"That you're my successor." Her grandfather said, making Elyon stare at him surprised. "The choice will be the people's in the end, but I don't doubt that you will succeed. Your parents agree as I have already spoken to them."_

 _Elyon nodded slowly. "I understand, grandfather and I won't disappoint you."_

 _"You can never disappoint me, child." He said and looked as his personal house elf, Seol, poured tea, made of lotus, for them. "To your journey for Hogwarts, you will not only bring your new accessory, but the hanbok you're wearing as well. Use it when you feel for it."_

 _The girl looked at her grandfather and bowed with her head. "Thank you, grandfather. I will use it well."_

Elyon glanced to her open trunk, seeing her neatly folded hanbok inside. She smiled a little when she recalled the memories she had with her grandfather. Naturally should her brother and sisters he jealous, but they weren't as they had already decided their paths.

Randall wished to become an Auror, as their father. Gwendolyn made her decision to become a healer and work outside Great Britain. Her youngest sister, Adele were a bit unsure, but she loudly protested to dress up and being pretty.

Elyon looked back in the mirror, dressed inthe school uniform with the emblem of Hufflepuff, a badger, visible on her robes. "I'm ready." She told herself before she turned to walk to the Great Hall for breakfast.

She knew her self-made fate has already begun.


	5. Friends and Foes in the First Week

**Friends and Foes on the First Week**

Elyon had barely gotten inside the Great Hall before she heard mumbles, whispers and gossips about Harry Potter. Not only the Gryffindors, but the Ravenclaws, the Slytherins and even her own house were gossiping about the boy, although he sat with his friend and tried to mind his own business while eating breakfast.

She frowned. 'Why can't they keep their gossiping at their common rooms?' She thought tired, not in mood of this. Besides, he wasn't someone to watch at like some animal at the zoo.

With a sigh, she settled by the Hufflepuff table and began to get herself a bowl of warm porridge and a glass of orange juice. She didn't had any friends to sit with or to keep her company, but for some reason everyone had found themselves friends already.

'I guess I'm probably the only one who isn't so social.' She thought and ate her porridge, but not before she poured a little milk and a spoonful of strawberry jam in her bowl.

She had always wondered how others find friends so fast. Her brother Randall had it so easy, she remembered in his first letter home, he had told about he made friends with three boys on the first day. It wasn't surprising, as he was a social butterfly.

Gwen had been a surprise. She usually kept for herself, but maybe she found company with the other Ravenclaws.

Elyon looked at their table, they seemed very intelligent and proper in contrast to the Gryffindors, whose openly laughed and were noisy in general. The Slytherins were neither boisterously loud or proper loud, but they seemed like somewhere in the middle, they did talk to each other just like how her fellow Hufflepuffs talked eagerly to each other.

'Or perhaps I haven't been around people enough to understand them.' Elyon came to the conclusion as she finished her porridge and made herself a cheese sandwich.

Hopefully she would eventually make a new friend today.

* * *

So, the first class would be Defence Against the Dark Arts, it was a shared class with the Slytherins.

A very interesting subject she had looked forward to until she found out it was with the snakes and she felt her stomach drop.

Randall had a lot to say about their generation of Slytherin, mostly bad things and the reason why Elyon didn't wanted to engage with the Slytherins to any cost. It didn't helped that her father also had a great deal of issues with Slytherins, never mind her own mother was a Slytherin.

A sophisicated, proper Slytherin with dignity, she used to say.

Elyon felt wary as all of the Slytherin and Hufflepuff students gathered outside the classroom on the third corridor. Everyone had someone to talk to and she felt clearly overpowered by social stigma.

She didn't understand. This was how it was supposed to be, right? Everyone should be friends with someone, including herself. Wasn't that true? Everyone in this school had friends or someone to turn to, so why didn't she had?

 _Why wasn't it what it's supposed to be?!_

Elyon felt her throat tighten, she tried to loosen her tie to breathe. Her heart slammed against her chest wildly, her hands began to tremble and she tried to hold her shoulder bag properly.

 _'I can't...I can't breathe...'_ Elyon's thought echoed, her silent voice wanted to scream out and she wanted out.

Escape.

Flee.

Run for her life.

No!

Elyon shook herself awake. No, she wouldn't act like this. She weren't supposed to get a bit frightened by a mass of students and her mother would be so ashamed of her right now. _'Dignity...always show dignity, no matter what.'_ She reminded herself, what exactly her mother would say.

She changed posture. Straighten her back, shoulders relaxed, chin up and nose right.

A deep breathe and exhale slowly.

And then, Elyon walked towards the large group of students from Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, more confidently than she felt. But how did that matter when she must show everyone what her family name meant and she couldn't be the weak link of it. Never on her life.

Suddenly everyone noticed her and began to whisper as Elyon walked past them. She could hear them, but Elyon knew she must ignore them. The butterfly hairclip was probably the main cause, otherwise she would just be "the other Pemberton girl".

And what she did heard.

"Isn't that Pemberton's sister?"

"Yes, it is. The first one in Hufflepuff."

"Pemberton in Hufflepuff, that's unheard of."

"Isn't she sister to Randall Pemberton, the Gryffindor?"

"Look at that hairclip!"

"I heard it has a fine status?"

"Yes, I heard she's granddaughter to the Korean Minister of Magic."

"I also heard she's his successor."

Elyon tried to shut off her ears, ignore their gossiping.

 _'Just ignore them...ignore them...'_ Her mantra went off in her head. How could Harry Potter stand this, hearing people gossip about him and not go crazy of it? This was unbearable.

"It's true then?" A loud voice shot through the ocean and gossip. Everything went quiet and Elyon felt a strange rush of unfamilliar emotion. The back of her head seemed to...tingle? It was like a sixth sense, that suddenly went off.

It wasn't good, something didn't felt good at all and she could feel it so strongly. It was almost as if that strange tingle tried to warn her about something.

She quickly turned around, facing a pale Slytherin boy in her age. He had white blond hair and a smirk already she didn't liked. He was accompanied with two other boys, who were much stronger and bigger than her in comparasion.

"Exactly what is true?" Elyon said and crossed her arms, waiting for an explaination and the boy walked forth to face her directly.

"That you're Elyon Pemberton, the first Hufflepuff in your family." He smirked. "Your grandfather is the Korean Minister of Magic, isn't that right?"

Elyon frowned, she didn't see the big picture why it was such big deal. "Yes, that is correct." She admitted slowly. "How that is any of your concern, I fail to see."

"Everyone talks about you right now." He said. "Your hairclip is proof enough, everyone knows your status is high now."

"I don't care what people say about me." She answered cooly. "I'm only here for a good education, nothing else."

He scoffed, but smiled anyways. "A lone wolf then. I like your style." He said. "Name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

"Elyon Pemberton, although you already knew them." She replied. "Who are those then?" She pointed at the two, gorilla-like boys who seemed like bodyguards for Malfoy.

"Crabbe and Goyle, they're my comrades." Malfoy shrugged. "You're high status in our society, so you definately should belong there. Soon you'll see others are less worthy. If you want, I could help you."

He offered a hand, but Elyon didn't took it.

"I'm not blind. I can clearly see who is worthy or not." Elyon stated. "And I don't shake hands with someone I haven't even known in five minutes."

He didn't blush, but his pale cheeks went slightly pink. "You should watch that attitude if I were you, Pemberton."

"We'll see if my attitude brings me problems, shall we?" Elyon answered with a smirk of her own. "I'm a badger, yes. But it doesn't mean we're less worthy than lions, snakes or eagles."

Right in that moment, professor Quirrell just arrived to open up the classroom. "S-so sorry for m-my late a-arrival, s-students." He stammered hastily. "L-let's get to c-class, shall w-we?" He said and opened the door, letting inside the students.

Elyon walked over to a random desk when Susan walked beside her. "That was so brave!" She whispered excited. "You stood up against Malfoy! If I didn't knew better, I would've taken you for a Gryffindor."

"Thanks, I guess." Elyon said lowly and sat beside her friend. "I'll never live down this..."

"Don't worry about it." Susan comforted her and smiled cheerfully. She had pink headband in her chestnut brown hair, it went down to her shoulders. "He had it coming, after all."

"I suppose so." Elyon said, uncertain if she liked it or not.

They didn't got to talk more before the lesson started.

* * *

"I'm very disappointed." Elyon said as they exited the classroom.

"Yeah, I am too." Susan admitted. "I mean, it's Defense Against the Dark Arts! But it felt like a joke, he kept stammering all the time! Can I borrow your notes later?"

Elyon nodded. "Sure thing, just remember the adress."

Susan laughed and Elyon felt confident enough to laugh along, it felt good to finally have a friend.

"But really, you were so brave to stand against Malfoy. I heard Potter already done that, yesterday at the train." Susan continued. "How funny it is, you and Potter-"

"It doesn't mean anything, just a coincidence." Elyon defended herself hastily. "Besides, Potter is an entirely different person. I'm just a Pemberton daughter, overshadowed by my better siblings." She added, feeling bitter over how everyone seemed to always prefer a goofball like Randall or prim and proper Gwen.

"Well, I think you're pretty great." Susan said.

Elyon couldn't help it and smiled, feeling a warm feeling in her chest.

* * *

History of Magic was a pain.

Elyon had always loved history, but this had seriously disappointed her as the teacher were a ghost and he had the world's...

Most.

Boring.

Voice.

'Merlin, what did I do to deserve this...' Elyon thought for herself and yawned, fighting to stay awake.

When the bell rang out by lunchtime, she had almost rushed to the Great Hall with Susan at her heels. "Ugh...I thought I was going to faint." She yawned. "Did you get any notes?"

"All I could manage with." Elyon sighed. "We take a look on that later. Let's see what's for lunch, shall we?"

They entered the Great Hall and Elyon saw that most of the students had formed their groups of friends, sitting together and talking.

Suddenly she felt very anxious, her ears and cheeks burned when she heard her fellow badgers talking about her face-off with Malfoy. She passed the Slytherin table, unable to block away the sounds of snickers and leers. She had really made herself impopular among the snakes.

Susan stopped in her tracks when she saw Elyon wasn't following her. "What's wrong?"

"I think I need to sit for myself for now. I can meet your friends later, maybe?" Elyon said, hating how weak her voice sounded like. But she couldn't bear meeting more, new people and now when the every first-year in Hufflepuff and Slytherin talked about her...

Her new friend looked confused, but nodded anyways. "It's okay, you can just join us whenever you want." Susan patted her on the shoulder and left, settling down by the middle of the Hufflepuff table, joining her four friends who greeted her back happily.

Elyon, however, sat for herself and didn't felt hungry anymore. She sighed as she buried her face in her hands. Why did she do that? Now she had ruined her only chance to have friends, like a normal person.

But she weren't normal. She started to regret putting on that bloody hairclip, it attracted the attention of everyone and she couldn't stand people whispering about her. Randall and Gwen didn't had that kind of problems, but they weren't personally chosen to become their grandfather's successor.

Elyon perked up when she heard a small noise and looked up, there were Granger from Gryffindor with a glass of water on her hand. "Here." She said and put it in front of Elyon, on the table. "You looked like you're having an headache, so I took the liberty to bring you some water. But you really should go to the Hospital Wing, if you're feeling ill."

"Thank you..." Elyon said slowly, surprised that anyone had taken notice of her. "You're Granger, right? I remember you from the Sorting, I heard when you told Susan about the ceiling was enchanted."

Granger looked very pleased that someone had cared what she said. "I didn't knew you listened, it's great when someone does. Everyone always sighs or ignores me when I tell them very important facts they should know. You can call me Hermione. And you are?"

"Elyon. Elyon Pemberton." She replied. "I don't mind someone telling me facts, it's very interesting and I like to learn something new everyday."

Hermione smiled and took a beside her. "We're going to have Herbology together, so I hope you don't mind if we keep together?"

"No, not at all!" Elyon said hastily. "I-I don't have so many friends and I think I might ruined my chances..." She explained slowly, looking down. "I have never had any friends before, I used to always sit inside and read."

"I did that too." Hermione said and helped herself a little lunch. "I had a cousin to talk with back home, but we weren't really close. But then my Hogwarts letter came and I was so excited to begin here, to make perhaps real friends. How about you?"

"I have always known about Hogwarts, but for a year ago, my parents were unsure of where to send me because there's more than one school." Elyon told her. "I'm half-Korean on my mother's side and while she went here on Hogwarts, she had thoughts about sending me to Korea. But my grandfather told it was better if I went to Hogwarts, so...that's that."

"Oh, so your entire family are witches and wizards on both sides?" Hermione broke into a cheerful smile. "Like the Weasleys?"

Elyon nodded. "Yes, I believe so. I'm British on my father's side. I have actually met with the Weasleys because we don't live far away from each other. Around six, seven miles, I'd believe."

"You can always talk with him and Harry, they seems very nice. But I can't figure out why they're not really keen on socializing with me."

Elyon looked behind her, watching the mentioned Weasley talk and joke around with Harry. She felt suddenly very lonely, what she would do to have such friendship one day. To talk about anything, laugh about jokes and tell about their day. Every moment of such friendship, she would treasure it forever."

She turned to Hermione, who read a book while she ate her lunch. "We can be friends!" Elyon blurted out. "I-I mean, since we both haven't had much friends and so..." She stammered. "You can always say no, I don't mind. I really shouldn't said such thing-"

"I'd like to." Hermione said and looked up from her book, _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1._ "I don't care much about "house enemies". It would be wonderful to have a Hufflepuff friend like you."

Elyon felt her cheeks burn. "You really mean it?" She asked, her chest felt so warm and Elyon knew she was both happy and touched. "Thank you so much, I won't disappoint you." She suddenly felt very hungry and helped herself some spaghetti. "By the way, have you had Transfiguration yet?"

* * *

Rest of the week were very eventful. Elyon was perhaps lonely in her own house, but her meeting with Hermione had truly improved her self esteem and she felt that the best way to get through this was to simply be herself.

Elyon met with Hermione again during Herbology, in which they learned about caring for magical plants. She was pleased to show her knowledge about herbs, it wasn't that hard for her. Herbology and Potions were co-operating since you needed to grow the ingredients for the draughts.

But if there were something Elyon enjoyed herself in, it was Charms and it was the only other class Hufflepuff shared with Gryffindor.

Charms were much more than to just swing your wand and pronounce a few words, Elyon knew that. But to her surprise, she found the class being enjoyable and not only that, she did got paired up with Harry's friend, Ron.

"Careful!" Elyon exclaimed when Ron swung his wand too aggressively. "Blimey, you'll poke someone's eye with that. I think I should try."

Ron seemed very annoyed that he didn't got it right. "Sure." He shrugged and Elyon nodded, they exchanged places so now Elyon was the opponent and Ron was the subjective.

She took a deep breath and swung her wand. "Expelliarmus!" There were a flash and Ron's wand flew up from his grip, allowing her to catch it in her right hand. "Did you saw that?!" She exclaimed. "That was amazing!"

Just then, Professor Flitwich came by them. "Very well done, miss Pemberton. As you see, concentration holds a great deal of importance in casting spells and charms."

"Can we switch now, I think I got it." Ron said once Flitwick turned to Hermione who successfully disarmed Harry on the first try.

Elyon nodded eagerly, handing over his wand back. "Here you go. Oh and don't forget the wand movement, circulate and straight." She reminded him as she took the place as the objective.

"I know, I know." Ron said. "Now...Expelliarmus!" He shouted and swung his wand.

This time, he successfully disarmed Elyon and she didn't mind at all. In contrast, she was very happy.

"Great job, Weasley!" She squealed and clapped her hands. "Now you really got it!"

Ron shrugged. "It was nothing. You're good at telling what to do. You just add more details." He said as he threw her back the wand, ready for a go again.

"Yes, I figured maybe you need more concrete advices in casting spells. I enjoyed working in pairs." She said happily while she disarmed him again.

"You're not so bad yourself. I saw you use your left hand, by the way."

Elyon shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, I'm a lefty. My right hand got broken once and I couldn't use it at all, so I used my left hand for months and it just stuck." She explained, wincing when it was Ron's turn to disarm her and he did a splendid job. "Besides, I always favored left hand before. I only used my right hand before, because I didn't wanted to differ from my siblings."

"Yes, we met your brother Randall. He hangs around Fred and George a lot, they talk about him a lot." Ron said. "Pity he's kinda stupid at times."

Elyon couldn't help than to laugh. "Yes, Randall is stupid. But he got the heart at the right place and he cares so much."

And before they knew it, the lesson was over and they returned to their seats, writing down notes for their homework and Flitwick handed over points for students who did a remarkably good job.

Elyon sat with Ron and Harry in the middle rows.

"-and miss Granger, 10 points to Gryffindor for her knowledge of the Disarming Spell."

"She looks awfully proud of herself, don't you think?" He asked Elyon and Harry quietly as they left Charms afterwards.

Harry shrugged. "If you say so." He said and Elyon thought Ron had a point in that.

"I think it's justified." Elyon said after a moment, deciding to be neutral. "If you know something, then you answer the question correctly. That's how it is."

But neither Harry or Ron could object to that, so the subject changed. It didn't took long before they reached the Entrance Hall.

"This is where we part." harry said as he and Ron started to head to the dungeons, for the first Potions class. "You can come with us later, we're going to meet Hagrid on tea."

Elyon was estatic, spending time with new friends after school? No problem. "I look forward to it!" She exclaimed excited. "I'll meet you two here after my class, I'm having Transfiguration now. See you!"

And with confidence, Elyon sprinted up the stairs for her Transfiguration class and already longed for afternoon to come.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, I apologize a LOT for this delay. Life was getting in the way, depression is never fun and I have started school again, to read up my grades to get a high school diploma.**

 **So far school is fun, I got great teachers and I travel every morning by train (so exciting!).**

 **But I'm going to plan more weekly updates, so let's see if I can do it.**

 **I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you next time!**

 **\- Lunan95**

 **PS. I know Expelliarmus is supposed to be a spell they learn in their second year. But worked for this chapter's purposes...**


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